The Trout and All Things Christmas

The Trout in Lower Wolvercote, Oxford, was the scene of many an Inspector Morse episode. It was his local "watering hole" so to speak, albeit a very upmarket one indeed.

I had the great pleasure of partaking of two festive meals there very recently and both times were exceptionally pleasant and memorable, thanks to the very welcoming staff and service we received. The Christmas menu was excellent and portions were exceptionally generous. The setting was wonderful, the atmosphere enticing and the company scintillating. What more could one ask for? The perfect venue for a party event.Everything I had was delicious. In particular, the Goat's Cheese starter was excellent and I really enjoyed The Bailey's pot dessert which was fabulous. Baileys just happens to be my favourite Christmas tipple. So if you are looking for an eaterie with great atmosphere to spend a nice time at Christmas and New Year with friends, I would heartily recommend the Trout.

Just as a seasonal aside, here are Delia's fave tipples. In addition, here's how to make a Christmas Pudding!

Some Excellent Links to Fun Christmas Activities!
Ana Maria Menezes of LifeFeast fame shows you 10 fun, Web 2.0 inspired ways to send Xmas greetings this year. Have a look at them here. Ozge Karaoglu also has some fab examples of alternative Web 2.0 Xmas ideas here Which one will you be sending?
Prince Harry and his on-off girlfriend Chelsy have sent their Elves e-Xmas card already. I predict it's going to be the e-card sensation of 2009!
Karenne Sylvester from kalinagoenglish has some different thought-provoking ideas about Christmas here.
www.esolcourses.com has a great series of lessons with Christmas songs for ESL learners and kids. Slades's "Merry Christmas Everybody" is one of my favourite Xmas songs ever. Please click here for this lovely lesson. I bet you won't be able to resist singing along!!
For an original Advent Calendar 2009, please click on the "Bits'n'bobs/show'n'tell" blog.
Click here for two alternative Italian calendars from Italy Magazine.

A veritable "White Christmas" 2009?
My all time favourite song has got to be "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" sung by Bing Crosby. This year it looks as if it's sure going to be a true white Christmas.
I'll leave you all for the moment with the following extract from the original film.